Mass Effect: Far Cry
by Zimek
Summary: Self-Insert, Crossover - kind of. Elysium hours before Skyllian Blitz, Arcturus, Eden Prime, Citadel, Reapers... and all that with Massive Dreadnoughts on top. Nothing goes as planned because nothing's ever easy, right?
1. Prologue

A/N

From this point I'd like to thank user **Sarge1995** for generously letting me use his ideas in my story. Credit for some of the things I don't want to spoil now goes to him. Rest assured that in time I'll point everything out, but for now all I can say is "Go check him out!". His story "**The Outsider**" inspired me greatly and gave a motivation to write my own.

So yeah... This is my first story and I hope you'll enjoy it. I'm not a native english speaker, and I've probably made some mistakes so I would greatly appreciate if you could point them out in reviews or PMs. :)

PS: I do not own Mass Effect. Bioware does.

* * *

"Create new audio file"

"Record"

"To whoever is listening: My name is Raphael Winters, I'm nineteen years old. I am recording this, because the following story, as crazy as it sounds is actually very true. Well, it's kind of still happening so I'll just tell you what has happened to this point, where I'm right now. Bear with me, I'm not mental. I think."

It was late spring, day like every other this time of year - sunny, with addition of rain and thun- derstorms. I was sitting in my room, looking out of the window in hopes to catch something that would take my mind off of the overwhelming boredom I felt. I was always kind of socially awkward, sure I had friends but none I could call a true best friend_,_ so to speak. Never felt like I should be a part of the community, always standing alone with my beliefs and ideals. I'm no athlete, although with my medium-length dark blonde hair, six feet and 185lbs I always thought of myself as a pretty good looking guy (if I've only taken care of myself). I have brown-to-green eyes and I usually don't mind growing facial hear.

I don't smoke but I used to occasionally get drunk – that was one of the ways for me to loosen up and forget about the reality I lived in. I wasn't depressed but lonely and I sometimes felt like I didn't belong in there. I wanted to do something that would matter, that would motivate me to live and be a better person. Every time I had spoken with my peers, my colleagues I got more and more disgusted by just how far different priorities we had. I am far more mature than my age says. That's my opinion though, and I don't like to sound cocky, but that's just how I feel. I bet I'm not the only one out there with such thoughts. I think generally people liked me, but not that much to hang out with.

I always wanted to be a policeman, or special ops. Someone that could reinforce law, protect the weak. Instead I worked an IT job – never really liked it minus the video editing part. But I thought, hey! With all the trouble people have finding a decent job I probably wouldn't experience it, since there's always a vacant place for good IT specialists.

Either way I sat down and turned on my laptop. The weather outside picked up and I saw a lighting crossing the sky in some distance. Back to the computer screen and there was a pop up window saying I have a scheduled system back up. I clicked ok, and reached for a bottle of Coke, but before I opened it something weird caught my attention. What the hell? My computer screen went black and lines of commands started appearing.

_executing meu*bat_

_executing elysium*bat_

_executing stringsetup*bat_

_commencing upload 1%_

_commencing upload 9%_

Drops of rain started banging on my window, and a huge blue lightning tore the sky right above my house. "God damn feds, they found me" I laughed at myself, amused by just how easily I've been hacked. "Elysium, huh?" – that's kind of a cool name for a computer virus, but Black Screen? Isn't it a bit obvious?

This way or another I was actually going to run a full format some day this week… so. It could be today, I guess.

_commencing upload 67%_

Wait, it's uploading my data, what the hell am I thinking? I hit the power button, but nothing happened. Then I plugged it off of the socket. What the… ah yes. The battery.

_commencing upload 99%_

I put my hands on the battery exactly in time to be hit by the strange lighting. I heard the lighting rod outside the house buzzing followed by a huge struck. Hairs on my arms got electrified and stood on their end. I could feel the pressure flowing through my body as I and my laptop started glowing, fueled by enormous amounts of energy. "So that's it? I am a bit disappointed." – I thought to myself. Well, at least I'm probably going down with a bang. The pressure was growing and I started losing sight. Then everything froze for a split second and my guts went absolutely full retard. My stomach decided to go on the dance floor, while my lungs started to make out with each other. Then an overwhelming sense of pressure and everything went black.

I don't know how long I was out, but when I finally woke up I wasn't good at all. Headache and a massive one too; imagine you get hit head-on with a train. Well, it wasn't even close, I felt like I grew a black hole inside of my skull. I managed to look around – I was laying on the ground in some dark alley. "Shit, I'm in hell" – I muttered, and just before I blacked out again I felt someone laying hands on me and pulling me against the wall.

I feel better now, easy… easy. I opened my eyes as the sun shining directly above my head sent its bright light. I could still feel pumping deep in my head while I got on my feet. Just what the hell happened? I looked around looking maybe for an answer and I noticed some of my stuff laying on the ground. iPod, bottle of Coke, laptop, and my backpack full of books – basically the stuff that was laying around me when this… this thing happened; and surprisingly everything was intact. I checked my pockets – one pocket tissue, one chewing gum and one… credit chit? Okay now… What the hell is happening, where am I?

I looked around once again trying to figure things out. I looked down at the credit chit I was holding in my hand. "1000 credits left." – I read out loud. Credits? The thing itself also looked familiar – a simple rectangular shape 5 by 7 inches maybe… The little screen that read its value glowed bright orange.

"No way in hell!" – I said to myself, pieces coming together. I knelt down and reached for my laptop, opened it and pressed space. It was still showing the black screen with commands but now there were few lines more.

_commencing upload 100%_

_upload in progress…_

_upload completed_

_._

_._

_._

_Raphael, I know it must be shocking for you, to say the least. But you will be just fine. As you probably figured by know, you are on Elysium – a human colony in the year 2176. It makes no sense to you right now, but I will explain you everything in time. We will be in contact._

_C.H._

_PS:_

_Get yourself a gun. This is VERY real._

I picked up the backpack and trashed into it everything I found including my precious laptop. I slowly made my way through all the trash lying on the ground, my heart beating frantically as the city noises I was hearing grew louder. I went around the corner and there was a way out of the alley, connecting to what seemed to be a high street. I could get just a glimpse of it from where I was standing, but it was well enough to get me petrified. Group of pedestrians walking down the sidewalk wouldn't be anything scary, but they weren't exactly all human. Two Turians babbling loudly with their Salarian buddy wasn't on my list of what I expected to witness after being struck by a lightning. And there was this big neon with Alliance Navy logo hanging on the wall directly across the alley.

"_Patriotism, Honor, Valor – to serve is to know yourself. Enlist know!_"

Yep, that's official – I'm crazy.


	2. The Blitz part 1

A/N

This is it - Chapter 1 is here. I hope you guys will like it, part 2 is coming out soon.

But here be warned, this chapter contains a few descriptions of gore that some people would call vivid. As far as it goes with war I want to describe it as close as possible to the reality. I will keep doing so, I'm just letting you now.

I would also like to thank **Zey1995** for checking this chapter for errors (and there were quite a few), visit his deviantart profile, he will be uploading some awesome drawings and paintings!; and again **Sarge1995** for letting me use some of his ideas in my story.

Thanks guys.

PS:

Feedback would be greatly appreciated.

* * *

I was walking down the road, looking around and still feeling a bit dazed. Am I really here? I mean… Mass Effect, the video game? How is that even possible, maybe I'm just dreaming, maybe I'm in a coma after this hit-by-a-lightning story? Well, sure I sometimes thought how awesome would be to find myself in the Mass Effect universe, even for one day. But this is insane, isn't it? Either way I don't think I want to get back just yet; or not that I know how to do that. For now I'll just play along, let's see what happens.

The architecture was the kind I had never seen before. Although the development was very tight it seemed built in just the perfect order. Buildings were kind of creamy-white color made of what seemed to be a rectangular blocks or containers built upon one another, but on the other side they looked very sturdy. You could probably think in the far future there wouldn't be many green areas in big cities. Practically everywhere I looked I could spot big and healthy looking trees, and even parks with little ponds. It was really a city of contrasts – neons flaring on most of the walls, cars flying above my head, and of course aliens. Not many of them to be honest but I could definitely spot Turians and Asari and I think I even picked out a single Hanar.

I got some weird looks and I checked on myself. Well, I was definitely a contrast to all the slick suits and uniforms people were wearing. White Nike's, black jeans and a long sleeved, red-black checked flannel shirt – modern lumberjack style as I liked to call it. Probably could have been worse but I was definitely not in vogue. Fashion sure has taken a different approach to certain things through the past century and a half. Even a casual look was quite formal these days – I could hardly spot somebody wearing short sleeved shirt. Materials looked all synthetic too, probably not much cotton in those clothes. Not that I didn't like it, it was very… futuristic; however, I wasn't going to wear those. Not if I didn't need to at least.

A horrifying thought came to my mind. I really hope music isn't all that different. Although I wouldn't be very surprised to see Lady Gaga performing on stage in 2176, shit… Hopefully she didn't hibernate to these times. God, that would be horrible.

"Move you fucking hobo" – somebody pushed me aside. "Err, sorry" – I replied. Damn it, people aren't very friendly nowadays. I recalled the short message I've read a few hours ago. I sure will need a barrier belt or something; I will probably get in trouble faster than a black guy at a KKK meeting; But a gun?

"Wait a second…" – I muttered. It's the year 2176 and I'm on Elysium. I've played Mass Effect too many times to forget that date… and just when I was about to loudly express my bad luck a siren screamed from a short distance.

I looked up at the blue sky just to see a yellow laser breaking the atmosphere with a wild scream of rage. It was a moment of sheer terror, my heart froze and I was watching helplessly as it tore its way through the air, hit the hover cars on its path literally setting them on fire dozens of meters before contacting and disappeared behind the buildings, all that visioned in slow motion. A split second later a massive bang hurled me on my knees; I couldn't hear anything as my eardrums almost exploded inside of my head, and few seconds after that the shockwave hit us. Windows exploded over our heads sending broken glass flying and cutting through a few unlucky men.

Still stunned I crawled my way to the nearest building which happened to be a grocery store of some sort. A woman took a peek from behind the counter and ran up to me. She said something, but I couldn't understand her, all I could hear was a muffled babbling coming to me like from behind a couple of solid walls.

"WHAT? I DON'T…" – I started but she cut me off. "What's happened, are you okay?" – I could see she was screaming, but I could barely hear her. I nodded and got up on my feet; she grabbed my hand and pulled me at the back of the store.

"It's the Batarians, they want to take out Elysium." – I tried to speak as usual, although I couldn't hear myself. "We need to get guns" – I added. She shot me a curious look and when I started thinking she wouldn't believe me or start asking inconvenient questions she looked at the wall and nodded. My hearing was coming back and I understood what really made her believe me. Gunfire. She approached a locker, opened it and handed me a gun.

"You take this, I have something better" – she faintly smiled at me and went back to the store. I checked the pistol she gave me; it was a M-3 Predator, and looking slightly aged too. But I was sure going to need that, I was just hoping it wouldn't jam on me in the middle of a shooting.

"Come on, you're putting on makeup or what?" – She hollered at me with a slight note of nervousness in her voice. I came over from the back and looked around as I didn't have opportunity to do it couple of minutes ago. Ah, so some things just don't change. It was your typical grocery store – shelves full of energy drinks from the future, crisps, beer, cheese, magazines - all sorts of things.

"Hey, can I take this?" – I pointed at the energy bars.

"Err… these are dextros" – she gave me a weird look. "Levos are the ones in blue wrapping" – she said while reaching behind the counter. Moment later and she was holding a shotgun; and a pretty scary looking one too. Looked kind of similar to SPAS-12 but it was painted strong red with two small, white stripes on the side. "Beauty, isn't she? Good ol' Avalanche" - she said with a voice full of sentiment. "My dad got it back on Shanxi, some lonely Turian decided to go hand to hand with him. I guess he was a bit overconfident" - she smiled deviously.

I was about to reply when somebody on the street fired a couple of shots and we saw a man in the Alliance Navy uniform falling dead on the ground. First shot hit him in the chest, second one blew half of his hand off changing it into gory mess – I took cover behind a small display full of apples and looked at the counter. The woman, I don't even know her name, was crouching behind it with the beloved shotgun in her hands. She glanced at me and put her forefinger to her lips, telling me to be quiet. The doors opened and I heard footsteps approaching slowly to my cover. I took a quick look and saw a short Batarian wearing heavy armor, shouldering an assault rifle. I switched off safety on my Predator, closed my eyes and took a deep breath. When I was about to open fire the woman jumped out of the counter sending two quick bursts into his chest. He never stood a chance; two rounds from point blank range sent him flying through the store like a ragdoll. He landed roughly, crashing on the door and breaking them in half.

"Not the god damn door! Shit, I just replaced them" – she said angrily to the corpse. I started laughing. "What?" – She asked me, all mad now.

"Nothing, it was just funny" – I said innocently. I looked down at the now dead Batarian. His insides were all torn to shreds; tubes and blood were basically all over him and floor. Whoa! Reality check, this is not a game anymore. I swallowed nervously. Shit, I could've been killed… But that got me thinking, what happens if I die here? Would I go back to my times, what the hell is real anymore?

"So… I don't even know your name" – she said breaking the awkward silence. I looked up at her and introduced myself. "Nice to meet you Raph, although the circumstances are dramatic, to say the least. I'm Amanda" – I could now take a closer look at her features. She seemed young, maybe 26, medium length blonde hair worn in a pretty good looking ponytail. She had dark green eyes and a gentle mole at her right cheekbone. Huh, she was slim too. Stop, what the fuck am I thinking about, damn it…

"What do we do now? I need to find someone." – I have the biggest chance of surviving this hell with Shepard. Besides I would probably want to be on the Normandy when shit really hits the fan. Well, now I'm starting to think long-term. That's not a good idea, I don't even know what I'm doing here.

"I sure as hell ain't going out there" – she said. The gunfire was still very loud and intense and it seemed like its coming from not farther than a few blocks; also occasional explosions and lots of screaming. The plain thought of coming out of this store filled me with scare.

"I understand, it's probably for the better for you, but I'm going either way. I just don't want you to stay alone in here. It's dangerous." – I said and she nodded in response.

"I know, but I'll be just fine here. Really" – she finished with reassuring tone. "You should take his gun though" – she added.

I squatted and picked up the rifle. It looked very much like the Vindicator, but the little writing near the trigger read _BSA Terminator VII_. It was reassuringly heavy and laid very well in my hands. The scope was built into an extended barrel, so it basically was an integral part of the rifle – much like in the Avenger.

"Okay, head to the Alliance Station, they should have a shit load of rifles and barriers." – She said while opening a pack of crisps. "Take anything you want" – she looked around.

"Thanks, and by the way where is the Alliance Station? I'm new here." – I said.

"Go right, it's a couple of blocks from here. Oh, and stick to the walls, don't get yourself killed!" – She grabbed handful of energy bars and threw them into my backpack.

"Thank you, Amanda. Here's hoping we'll get to see each other again, safe and sound." – She looked at me and smiled.

"I'm sure we will" – she replied.

I slowly passed over the puddle of blood and headed to the exit. I looked around if it's safe to go out, and left the store. I shouldered my newly acquired rifle, pistol resting in my back pocket. I'm ready to go.

I glanced at her over my shoulder and sent a wink. Now that's a classy goodbye!

The street was empty not counting the Alliance marine. Poor guy, probably on leave after round on duty and he ends up killed by some random Batarian pirate or merc. I approached the body and looked down at his wounds. There was a whole in his uniform on the left side of the chest, blood clotted on his mouth. Shit… the guy didn't die instantly; he probably choked on his own blood coming into his lungs. Fucking horrible death and I got immensely furious at this Batarian scum. He didn't even let this man die quickly; he just left him to choke probably for couple of minutes. I can assure you, I won't have mercy for you bastards.

But the torn off hand was worse. I almost puked when I saw the splat that used to be his fingers. Thumb along with forefinger and middle finger were completely shot off leaving awful red jelly with tubes and veins coming outside. I checked if he had something of value that would help me stay alive for the next ten or fifteen hours of this hell. Chit with 7 credits left and photo showing a little redheaded girl, now all discolored from the blood. I took the photo and his dog-tag and ran the way Amanda showed me.

I ran for the next minute or so until I heard someone screaming at me followed by open fire from couple of guns, probably pistols as I recognized the light-caliber gun sound.

"Fuck, shit!" – I stumbled just in time to duck a shot aimed directly at my ass. I hid behind a hover car crushed by debris and looked around for possibilities to get out of this alive.

"Human! Get out and you may live!" – I heard a hoarse Batarian voice. Then another shot deflected off of my precious cover.

I crouched and shouldered my Terminator, and then leaned out from behind the hover car and shot few rounds. They responded with fire of their own - well, this was going nowhere. I looked once more for something I could use. I slowly opened the door and slipped into the car. Um… yeah I don't think I'll be able to start that thing. There was no visible steering wheel or clutch or anything resembling a dashboard to be honest, but there was a little omni-tool disc lying on the backseat. I grabbed it and exited the car. I have an idea, an incredibly stupid one, but it may work with just a little luck.

"Grenaaade!" – I hollered and threw the disc at their cover. When I heard their panicked screams I stood up and started running like there was no tomorrow. Holy shit, you guys are really that stupid?

I ran through the streets, broken neons and glass everywhere. Bloody and burnt corpses started appearing, gunfire slowly grew louder and I knew I'm catching up with the fight. It was really a horrifying sight; the worst thing was they didn't even spare children. I saw couple of kids lying on the sidewalk all in blood. I was passing by a little café with parasols and tables outside when I heard a quiet voice.

"Can you help me? I think I lost my dad." – Little boy, maybe 5 years old appeared from behind the tables. He was slightly covered in blood, likely not his own.

"Hey, it's okay I can help you." –I said, trying to calm him down a bit - "I'm Raph, what's your name?" - I added

He seemed to relax and said "Kyle. We must find my dad, he said I have to use this if he wouldn't get back soon, but I don't know how" – He showed me an omni-tool disc.

"Can I try?" – I said and he handed me the disc. "Let's get inside" – I nodded at the café.

We walked in and sat down on the floor beside the doors. I clenched my palm on the omni-tool and it came to life glowing bright orange.

"Um… radio?" – I said directly to the thing and it surprisingly activated it, unfortunately there was only static. I looked at Kyle and smiled. "See, it's working, we'll find your dad" – I said and he sent me a big smile. That was the best thing that happened to me that day; it gave me so much power and decisiveness to get through this. I took an energy bar out of my backpack. "Hey, catch" – I threw it to him and concentrated on the device.

"Channels, search" – actually I didn't believe that to work, but it happened to be very easy and intuitive to work with. I could tell it started searching because of the different spectrums of static it was now giving out. Then it stopped and I heard someone on the now working properly radio.

"…we have to close this channel, it's not secure."

"…understood. Sir, we're still waiting for that reinforcements, but we need more men right now!"

"You'll get them soon, just hold on, son. Agincourt alongside half of the Seventh Fleet is engaging their ships on orbit as we speak."

"Hello? Can you hear me? I'm civilian, and I have a little kid with me, we need help" – I said cautiously, but I didn't get any response. Seconds later, one of them finally spoke.

"Where are you exactly?" – The second voice said.

"I don't know exactly, but we're sitting in a café…" I checked around for clues where exactly I am and noticed the name on a little menu lying on the floor. "Elysian Rose" – I said.

"Okay, easy. We're 250 yards north. Listen, we're pinned down in the Alliance Station, you won't get through. We're having a one big fucking party here."

"So I'm on my own on this one?" - that's fucking great, a nineteen year old babysitter, fighting his way through batarian pirates and slavers. Yeah, I guess that's a check on my to-do-before-I-die list…

"I'm afraid so, though we could give you cover fire, but still; I don't think it's a good idea for you to get near this place right now." – the gunfire coming through his radio was steady and continuous.

"Alright, I'll try to give you a signal when we'll be coming. Don't close the channel just yet." – I said dryly, and turned off the radio. "Okay Kyle, listen to me very closely. Where we're going now is incredibly dangerous, and I want you to do what I tell, okay?" – I said to the kid and he nodded in response, aware of the consequences.

I stood up and leaned out of the café, looking around.

"Alright, I think it's clear. I go first and when I give you the signal you come to me running like hell, understood?" – I said with a serious tone.

"Yes, sir" – was his response. At least he knows it's serious business now, thank God for good parenting.

I looked again, just to be sure and crossed the street running. I took cover behind a little wall separating some sort of park from the street. I leaned out, shouldered my Terminator and still keeping my eye on the street sent Kyle a good-to-go signal. Moment later he was safely by my side. We repeated the charade several times more until the gunfire was loud enough to drown out my voice. I looked from behind the corner and saw about a dozen of batarians covered behind various things, be it hover cars, trees and store opposite to the Alliance Station. The glass was lying everywhere along with dead bodies - human, turian, batarian. Every wall and building in sight was heavily covered with bruises from the gunfire and shrapnel.

The Alliance Station didn't look good as well. Though it was walled in, much like the various embassies back in my times I spot a fire coming out from one of the windows on the first floor. The wall itself had multiple holes through which rifles stuck out and fired at random. It looked like the Station is about to fall, and soon without any reinforcements from outside.

I turned on the omni-tool again and checked the radio.

"This is Raphael Winters, calling anyone inside the Alliance Station." – I said with a note of nervousness in my voice. Shit, this is going to be though _and_ I have this kid with me. My legs were shaking.

"This is Lieutenant Tucky, you were speaking with me earlier. What's your position?" – The marine said with a tired voice.

"I…" – I cut in mid sentence as I noticed a dead marine near my position. "Lieutenant, this day has become a little better for us. We'll be coming through the main gate. When you see smoke, cease fire" – I said with power. Indeed, we might just get lucky today.

"The Main Gate? I hope you know what you're doing, you said you have a _kid_ with you?" – he said stressing the word.

"Yeah I do, no worries. Just do as I say and when I give you the signal open the door" – I replied, voice full of confidence. It must work, really.

I crawled my way to the marine lying on the ground. I frowned, as I entered a puddle of his blood, but I had no choice. The body was lying in the open, in the middle of a street. Thank God, it was getting dark, because they probably would've seen me. But it's more important why I got to him in the first place. The poor guy was carrying two frigging bandoliers full of grenades, both frag and smoke! Most possibly fresh out of the Alliance Armory, but his luck must have ran out at some point since he had three bullet holes in his back.

"There we go" – I whispered while removing grenades from one of the bandoliers. I put them carefully in my backpack, and I took the second bandolier in my hand retreating back to safety.

"Kyle, you know what that is?" – I asked rhetorically showing him grenades. "These tend to do a lot of rumble, so when I throw them you have to cover your ears, okay?" – I pushed him farther behind the corner.

"Yes, sir. But fireworks are illegal, we won't get into trouble?" – he shot me a wary look.

"These are different, you'll see yourself" – I said to him, already guessing his reaction.

I opened the radio channel once more.

"This is Winters, the party is about to start. When you see smoke cease fire, I repeat cease fire." – I said loudly to the omni-tool.

"Copy that" – the marine's answer was rather distant, like he was preparing for another young casualty of war. Well that is not happening.

I turned off the omni-tool for good and leaned out from behind the corner. No more than 25 yards to the main gate, easy. I put the bandolier gently on the ground and picked up frag grenades leaving smoke ones in the belt. Alright, so I have 5 killer ones and 3 smoke – that should do some serious damage. I took a deep breath and looked at Kyle telling him to cover his ears. My heart was beating like crazy, it was even worse than my first confession – and that one was _horrific_ to be honest.

Well… nothing weird about a minor heart attack right now. I have a 5 year old with me and we're about to step into the gates of hell in couple of seconds. Eh… let's do this already.

I picked up one of the grenades and turned it in my fingers. It was quite obvious, there was a little line going through the center, cutting the grenade in half. I should probably twist it both sides.

I did so and it started pulsating with red color when I threw it as far as I could. I quickly repeated the procedure with the rest of the grenades, last one by the time when the first one detonated. I saw bright flashes along with enormous bangs and screams of agony and the shooting stopped… at least on the batarian side of the fence. Bright flashes shone from the Alliance Station as I prepared smoke grenades. I threw them and picked Kyle up. We got out of the cover just in time to see grenades releasing the thick, grey cloud. After couple of seconds shooting stopped and we started running.

"OPEN THE GATE!" – I shouted as loud as I could, running through the smoke and fire. I heard batarians screaming and mumbling in pain, fortunately I couldn't see them through the smoke we were in. I felt an extremely burning sensation as I inhaled the smoke and hot air deep into my lungs. I grasped for breath but then more of the smoke found its way through my nostrils and mouth and I started feeling like I really was in hell. I had to close my eyes from the heat and go blind, but then I tripped over something soft, probably a body, and hit the ground hard. I clenched my teeth in pain and crawled my way through the hell, dragging Kyle with me.

Finally after what seemed like forever we got to the gate and I started banging on it, still shouting to get them open. Then the metal doors hissed and opened slightly. I pushed Kyle inside and slid through after. I got on my knees struggling for breath the adrenaline was still pumping inside my veins but I looked around and managed to catch some details.

We were on a little yard leading to the Stations main entrance. There were maybe five or six marines standing beside the wall, watching through the gaps, some in full equipment and armor some in standard Alliance uniform. I noticed one more leaving the building in a hurry, and running towards us.

"Holy shit, what the hell was that?" – He looked at me with sheer disbelief. "I'm Tucky, you were speaking with me through the radio." – he said with a smile.

"Winters, glad to meet you, sir." – I said faintly, suddenly starting to feel dizzy.

"You okay?" – He checked on me. "MEDIC! Get them inside now!" – he shouted to the nearest marine.

"Fuck, am I hurt?" – I said with a hiss of pain. Well to be honest I could've been hit with shrapnel, but since the adrenaline kicked in I wouldn't really feel pain, right? Ah shit, now I'm feeling it! I looked over my back and I saw a big red stain on my shirt, exactly on the right shoulder. I hope it's not serious. Shit! It really hurts though.

"Tucky, what happened?" – I heard a rather familiar voice.

"It seems like the kid has brought a couple of toys with him" – Tucky grinned, tone full of amusement.

I slowly turned around and my heart stopped for a second. There he was, five feet and eleven inches of pure awesomeness, short, dark brown hair, green eyes. Bit bulky even in the standard Alliance uniform, he really looked like he can take a lot of punishment. He had quite the facial hair, probably some time on leave already, but when he looked at me I could notice a glimpse of… was that admiration?

- Good times, huh? - he said looking around at the devastated buildings.

Shepard.


	3. The Blitz part 2

A/N

Hi there, long time no see, huh? Yeah, sorry for that. I've been kind of busy lately (work and such) but now I'm back to the story. :)

Hope you like it, and please report major grammar or syntax errors if you encounter any, so I could improve next chapters. Thank you and enjoy.

* * *

I was still staring when one of the marines took me gently by the left arm.

"Come on buddy, you did good, but we have to patch you up" – he said taking me towards the building. The only real difference between him and the other marines was the big, white cross with red border on the left side of his chest and two white stripes on his armor, coming down both his arms from the neck to the wrists. Their armors on the other hand were shiny (or at least used to be), really dark navy blue, highlighted with some small gold-blue details here and there. Their rank insignia were also gold. They were looking really tough and noble.

I looked for Kyle and saw him being taken care of by some other marine. My throat was burning, I found it difficult to breath, and I could literally feel my shoulder blade throbbing so I just shut up and let them do their job. We stepped inside and I looked around; we were standing in a sort of waiting room combined with a reception. Posters encouraging to enlist were hanging everywhere along with a few "Most Wanted" by the Alliance and Council. Dozens of people covered in bandages and put on a drip, mumbling or trying to sleep beside the walls; mostly women and kids. Some of them with severe burns across the face or torn off limbs.

"We'll have to mobilize the civilians, Shepard. Anyone who can hold a gun." – I heard a worried voice.

I took a quick look over my shoulder and saw Shepard and Tucky coming from behind us. While the later was carrying something that looked like a medium-weight armor with a Phalanx in his belt holder, Shepard was just in the Alliance uniform, however he had a higher caliber Carnifex. Huh, I wonder what class is he. Maybe an Adept or a Vanguard – it would be awesome to see him charge into a group of geth just with a shotgun. Uh… I guess I'm losing a lot of blood…

I took a closer look at Tucky; he had black hair, standard military cut, blue eyes, and a little scar just under his right ear. He was rather good looking, but I have to admit, he had an awful smile; maybe because one of his front, upper teeth was missing in action. Oh, and he had a N7 emblem on his armor which was colored the standard navy blue, but also had a black camouflage pattern with two lights located on the chest. The gold rank insignia and smaller details were intentionally wiped so they were matt and darker. Shoulder plates were small but sharp, giving him a look of someone tough and skilled in fight but also light and agile. He was walking like someone who knows what he's doing; His every step was firm and tone of his voice was now that of a man ready to lead in a battle.

"Michigan is dead, and we're both LT's, who takes the charge?" – Tucky continued.

They passed us by and Shepard heaved a sigh of tiredness. As they entered the next room he said something to Tucky who responded with a piercing look and then nodded in what seemed to be an agreement.

"Get the shirt off, I have to take a look at this wound" – the marine who helped me get inside pulled his knife from a little holder on his thigh.

"Whoa, wait a second, I got this; I like this shirt." – I said with a slight smile. My shoulder was still hurting, but not the way I would expect from a gunshot or shrapnel wound. It was pulsing deeper inside and stinging outside and around the spot.

I slowly unbuttoned the shirt and took it off with a grimace of pain. I looked around with a cautious curiosity, afraid of what I would see. It didn't look like a gunshot or shrapnel wound, more like a slice across the shoulder. Probably whatever that was caught me on its way through the air.

"Brace yourself, it might hurt a bit" – the marine said just before opening the wound and putting his fingers inside. He looked at my face and started pressing on my flesh inside the cut; then he probably spotted the pure rage in my eyes, and said: "Huh, you are a one lucky son of a bitch, aren't you?" – he started laughing and continued. "Well the wound is indeed quite deep although it's clear inside. It's just a straight cut to be honest." – he said with relief.

"That's… very comforting to hear." - I hissed through the clenched teeth. Now, thanks to his professional diagnosis I felt like my shoulder plate was doing backflips. "How's Kyle?" – I asked him.

"The kid? Yeah, he's fine; we just had to put him under oxygen, he inhaled much of the smoke" – he opened a medi-gel canister and put the substance on my shoulder. I started feeling a sensation of cold numbness and I relaxed. "Though it seems like _you_ need one too" – he added, handing me an oxygen mask. I took a deep breath and couple of minutes later I started feeling much better.

The wound itself turned out to be rough; it went two inches deep and was five in length, it for sure will leave a scar. Fortunately, thirty minutes later, when the medi-gel cleansed it, they sew me up, put on a bandage and I was good to go.

I looked around the room as I was putting my shirt back on; most of the windows were protected by metal sheets that rolled down from the ceiling, probably automatically after the alarm was triggered. The only two opened to fire were those next to the exit. I grabbed my backpack and slowly walked over to the next room, passing by a few heavily wounded people. One of them was sitting on the floor, his left leg amputated below the knee and wrapped around with towels already dripping wet with blood. His eyes were in constant movement, glancing around the room, not resting his sight even for a second. He was making a surprised face, brows high and his mouth in shape of an "o".

This made me scared to the bone, not even the wound itself, but his reaction after the sedatives and shock he had been through. The whole scene was grotesque, I knew what was happening to him but I couldn't stop the feeling of sheer horror when I looked at his face. Then it really hit me – that could have been me or Kyle sitting there now; or even worse, we both could've been killed back there. I wasn't thinking straight at the moment, what I did was inexcusably reckless; my actions were entirely self-centered, as I just wanted to get close to Shepard. I mentally slapped myself. Never again.

I entered the next room and saw Tucky sitting on the table, talking with Shepard who was standing in front of him, hands crossed on his chest. There was a whole arsenal lying on the floor, six Mattocks, at least dozen of M-8s, Predators, barrier belts and a single Viper; basically everything you'd want to have facing a platoon of mad batarian slavers.

"We'll have to evac sooner or later. You know the Alliance, they always show up five minutes late." – Tucky said, voice full of venom.

"I know, but for now we have enough weapons and clips to make it couple of hours more. At least if they don't have grenade launchers" – Shepard rolled his eyes. Then he noticed me and said: "You did good back there; very few people would've decided to do something that dangerous. But you made it. Name's Shepard by the way" – he extended his hand and I shook it firmly.

It was incredibly awkward to hear a fictional character from a video game saying something to me in real life. His voice was exactly the same, he was looking exactly the same (not counting slightly longer facial hair and that he was a couple of years younger) and he had the very same movement and mimics. It was really, really troubling to be honest.

"Raph Winters, I tried my best to keep us alive." – I said sheepishly. "Listen, I heard you talking earlier. I can hold a gun and I am quite a shot. I think you could use me on the front line, back there." – I said loud and clear. "And I've brought something special with me" – I pulled the grenades out of my backpack.

The room went silent, and all we could hear was gunfire coming from not more than 100 yards along with moaning from the second room. They looked at me from head to toes, evaluating the situation.

"What kind of experience do you have exactly? – Tucky stepped in, and by his tone I could guess he would let me stand by the marines either way.

"I used to visit this little rifle range with my dad quite often back in day." – I said cautiously. Well, it was true; I even got a silver medal on some random marksman championship one day. Hundreds of hours spent on Call of Duty and Battlefield finally gave the fruits, so to speak. Of course this was completely different, real.

"Look, thanks to your heroic…" – Shepard raised his eyebrow a bit – "…run back there, we have a few moments of peace now. But this will probably change in a few minutes and then hell will break loose again. We don't want to force you to do anything" – he said honestly.

"I know I can be an useful asset. You need every capable shooter you can get." – I said to his face.

"Yeah, you're right. We simply _cannot_ let this Station fall. There are too many lives at stake." – He said with power – "But we don't want to lose any more either." – He added.

"I'll try my best not to die." – I frowned as I remembered the man I passed by just a few minutes ago.

I approached the small stack of weapons lying on the floor. Well, they were beautiful to be honest, the Viper was slick and sharp, the extended barrel with heat outlets around gave it a very predatory look. It was painted black with three small lights on the left side, now off. I picked it up and assessed its weight. It was a true masterpiece; the rifle was reassuringly heavy but also very easy to operate.

"This baby is mine though" – I heard Tucky laughing. – "She saved my life more than once." – he added with a note of sentiment in his voice.

"Don't want to be nosy, but how long do you guys know each other?" – I looked at both of them.

"Tucky and I met on the N7 training, in Rio. We know each other pretty well" – Shepard smiled faintly.

"Yeah, I got his ass out of trouble more than once. He owes me a whole bar full of drinks." – the blue eyed marine responded with a wide grin.

"It was my ass on the front line, this fine gentleman here sat 500 yards back in safety with his beloved rifle." – Shepard started laughing out loud.

I smiled and picked up an Avenger. I heard it became something of an AK-47 of my times. It was extremely reliable, and basically available for everyone, be it soldiers, mercs, or civilians. Yet, due to the high recoil and caliber lower than this in for example the Mattock it wasn't the best that one could get. I put the flag assault rifle of Mass Effect series away, and picked up one of the Mattocks. Now this was something. The rifle was very solid and heavy, much more than the M-8 _and_ it had a full-auto switch unlike in the game! The particular model I was holding had many scratches and hollows indicating its violent past. I already liked it, the damage has given the rifle a personality of sort, and looked like it wouldn't just jam on me in the middle of a shooting. I switched off safety and the lights came to life shining deep cyan; quick clip check and… it's a full go, nice. I picked up the belt and slung the gun over my shoulder.

Hey! I still have the Predator Amanda gave me. I actually completely forgot about it, but that's good. It might get handy some time. I really hope she's fine though, I left her alone there; but if I wouldn't go Kyle would probably still be in the café, maybe even dead.

I looked around and picked up a barrier belt from the stack. I fastened it around my waist and checked if it's working. The little screen on the clamp read 99 percent, that's enough for me; it should hold a couple of shots.

I exited the room and sat down on the stairs leading to the first floor, trying to get my thoughts together. If I heard him right, Tucky said both him and Shepard are Lieutenants; so that means Shepard should soon be promoted to Lieutenant Commander, most probably after The Blitz. This whole thing was kind of weird though, where from would Batarians got such a powerful laser tech? This thing was huge and if I remember correctly this attack is lead by some random pirates and warlords, who wouldn't posses such highly advanced technology. Something wasn't right, it didn't feel like it should have happened. And there was this message; C.H.? I don't even have words for what's happening right now, I just hope I'll get it all under control.

"People, can I have your attention, please?" – Tucky stepped in, and everyone was now looking at him. - "Listen, we're in this together so I think you would like to know what's happening. I just got a message from Admiral Korolov, as you may or may not know, he's in command of Alliance's Seventh Fleet. – Tucky continued. – "By now you have probably noticed, Elysium has been attacked by batarians; although the reason behind this attack is yet unknown, they have brought ground forces along with a dreadnought and half a dozen of cruisers which are now being taken care of by our Seventh Fleet and SSV Agincourt." – he paused, and Shepard continued.

"As their ships are being disintegrated in the orbit, we still have massive ground forces to deal with, reinforcements will come in soon, but we need to hold on until then." – he took a deep breath and continued. – "I know I have no right to ask for that, but I have no choice. We need every man and woman capable of shooting a gun, to defend this facility; are there any volunteers?" – he glanced around the room.

I stood up and walked over to them; I faced the wounded and started slowly, trying to sound convincing. "I'm with you Lieutenants; I will protect my home and my people, I won't stand and look at Elysium being burned down and raped by this Batarian scum!" – well, yes that was corny and not quite true, but I wasn't anything near a motivational speaker at the moment. All I was trying to do was to give the people some motivation, will and maybe hope that we could really win this fight.

One of the men sitting on the ground stood up and walked over to us. He looked at us and whispered: "You're right and I will stand beside you, just give me a working gun; but many of us are heavily wounded and won't be able to share my faith. Many will die soon if they don't get on the operating table." – he turned to the crowd and said loudly "Me too, let's get this…" – Shepard's omni-tool came to life and we heard a marine saying in a hurry "Lieutenant, we have bogeys closing in from north-west. Around forty toads, heavily armed and armored." – just when he finished we heard a massive bang and the wall six feet from where we were standing blew up covering us with shattered plaster and concrete also leaving a 5 inch wide hole. We heard shouting from the yard, and Shepard's radio came to life again "We have a sniper here, heavy caliber!"

"You don't say?" – Shepard responded as we all hit the ground. "Localize and take him down, fast!" – he ordered.

Tucky looked at the hole, and without a word crawled his way back to the next room. Couple of seconds later shooting started outside the building and we received another hole in the wall, this time on the other side of the room, about 2 feet above the floor.

"He's not stupid, he knows he got us pinned down. People, if you haven't decided yet, there's no more time to discuss the matter. Everyone who wants to live get your asses back there and take a gun" he pointed at the room, stood up and made his way running like there's was no tomorrow.

"You heard the man, do it, go!" – I shouted at them as the people stood up and ran to get them a weapon. "Kyle!" – I looked around for him, but he was already being taken care of by some older kid, they passed me by on their way to the temporary armory next room.

I helped the rest get to the room, and I saw Tucky readying his rifle. He was looking sharp and concentrated when he slipped armor piercing ammo mod into the right slot in his beloved Viper. Then he grabbed his helmet and put it on, and it was amazing – the dark blue visor was covering whole front, much like the Quarian ones, but it had a big red lens on the right eye and a smaller one on the left eye. He pressed a few buttons on his omni-tool and the smaller one faded away and appeared again. He saw me staring and started laughing.

"Pretty neat, isn't it? It's your standard O-IX with a couple of adjustments of my design; this for example is an _advanced aim assistance_ set up exclusively for my baby. I admit, I copied it from the _sharpshooter_ series, but adapted for humans myself." – he said still tempering with the helmet – "But we have something to do right now, don't we?" – he grabbed his M-97 and headed to the first floor.

"So what do we do now?" – I turned to Shepard who was checking his barrier.

"Until we deal with the sniper, we're staying inside." – was his reply. – "They will be probably coming through the main gate. We will fall back to the waiting room, and make something of a last stronghold there, we'll leave heavily wounded in here while all the people who volunteered will defend the facility. – Shepard added.

He turned on his omni-tool and opened up the radio channel.

"Shepard here, Chief I need you to take your men and fall back to the building." – he ordered through the device.

"Roger that" – the marine responded.

The shooting outside became more intense for a couple of seconds and then the front doors hissed open with the marines jumping inside. They were all covered in dirt and sweat, couple of them in addition of a few blood stains. I could see they were already tired, but they looked determined as they knew it's not over just yet. Their uniforms were torn here and there, but all of them were missing their insignia. I read somewhere that in case of a sniper fire marines rip off their badges so that the enemy sharpshooter doesn't know who is the highest ranking officer and who to take down first. But I didn't know if it made sense back then, obviously we were all in danger. It was probably just a safety habit.

"So what now, Skipper?" – the leading marine asked.

"Alright, overturn the tables, put sandbags all over the room, make a safe escape way if something goes wrong and I'm sure it will at some point – Shepard pointed to the waiting room.

Then, right after he finished ordering commands, we heard a massive explosion on the yard, blasting us out of our feet.

"Shit, that's it people, get behind cover and shoot every Batarian coming in, yeah? – then he made his way to the room and took cover behind a big concrete column supporting the ceiling. The batarian forces were already breaking in so the rest of us had to make it to the cover under the enemy fire. Shots were flying around me as I took cover behind an overturned metal table. A few shots deflected out of it, leaving hollows. I looked at my barrier belt which now read 72 percent. What the hell, I didn't even feel anything!

The shooting became intense and I really couldn't hear anything. I looked around me and watched people ducking behind anything that could give enough protection against heavy fire. I leaned out and sent a short burst surprisingly catching one of the slavers. His barrier flickered and went down as my Mattock depleted its batteries. He desperately jumped for cover, but unfortunately for him, he didn't make it as Shepard's incinerate shot hit him right in his face. I looked at him and I saw a half transparent, blue tech armor on him. So Sentinel it is? That's cool too.

Plaster and shattered concrete pieces were falling on our heads, and soon a few of the civilian volunteers got hit and had to fall back to safety. We were quickly losing this battle even though we were doing everything in our might to stay alive and in position as long as we could. Then I saw one of the batarians reaching for a grenade, he activated it and threw at us. I watched it as in slow motion, smoothly flying through the room, but instead of blasting us into the sky it hit a quickly rising biotic bubble of which it bounced off and exploded creating a huge blast of heat and fire. I covered my face, but it caught me, fortunately weakened by the bubble.

I rolled to the left, and looked behind. One of the civilians, heavily wounded was now on his knees, with hands reaching for the sky. With a grimace of pain and streams of sweat dripping down his face, he was keeping the bubble up.

"Fall back, now!" – Shepard yelled through the gunfire. He looked around for a possible distraction, and passed the message to a marine crouching beside him. Then, they grabbed their grenades and threw them at the batarians. Two second later, when we felt the bang, we all got on our feet and made a run for it. The fire stopped for a couple of seconds and I glanced over my shoulder as I reached the door.

The room was completely ruined and shattered; the best way to describe it is that it looked like after a hurricane, meteor shower and a frat party. Combined. Well, actually it looked like after a heavy shooting, if you have seen one.

I jumped into the room and heard the metal door hissed shut behind me. People were frightened, most of them on the edge of panic as I could tell from the look of their faces. There were maybe twenty five people in the room, not counting marines.

"We don't have much time, we have to leave this building!" – I heard Shepard saying to the marines standing beside him. He looked at me and continued: "You, Raph. You're gonna help us secure a safe escape for the civilians, okay?"

"Yes, of course." – I looked at the poor people around me, many children along side with them, hurt and frightened. I don't know why, but I really didn't feel scared of fighting. Maybe I still didn't fully comprehend just in how deep shit I was at the time. Besides, these people really needed help and any look of confidence they could get; and lots of medi-gel. We had to get them to safety.

We looked at the only door in the room as the moaning and angry screams started rising behind them. A lot of rumble, objects falling on the ground, or pushed on the floor with this scratching sound. Like when you get up from the chair too quickly. You know what I mean? Clear indications, that batarians next room are getting their shit together.

"We're running out of time, people! Get here now." – Shepard started rolling up the metal sheets covering one of the windows. The marine, who talked with him earlier went first and when he gave us the 'all good' signal Shepard said: "Line up and get out of here. Sergeant Wiley here will get you to safety." – he looked at the marine standing outside beside the window and nodded.

"Come on people, women and kids first!" – the line started moving.

I had no idea how long I was in there, but the lights went down and it was pitch black outside. Only occasional flashes of explosions and flares lit up the sky. I looked at Shepard checking his barrier belt; he glanced at me and said: "It's you and I now, huh? Looks like the fight is near over".

Just when he finished the sentence the batarians next room started banging on the door separating us from them. They were saying something, but the voices were muffled and we couldn't understand any of it. Then few moments of silence and the door blew off flying across the room, sending shrapnel all around us. We fell to the ground, last of the civilians still inside. The invaders started running in and shooting blindly in every direction. Shepard managed to get up first and he rolled to the nearest cover he could get, being an old soda machine.

"FUCKING COVER YOUR ASSES!" – he shouted to the civilians, as they scattered behind various tables and columns.

"Fuck, shit, we're done. We're fucking done." – one of the civilians, a young teenager, maybe 14 years old landed beside me with a sheer terror in his eyes.

"Watch your language, young man!" – I managed to get my cool and glanced over the table behind which we took our cover. I spotted a batarian crouching behind a big column, unfortunately for him, with his calf sticking out of the cover. I shouldered my Mattock, slowly picked the target and shot a single bullet. I catched his leg, breaking the bone in half as he fell on his back, now with his head and shoulder out of the cover. He looked at me and widened his eyes as I squeezed the trigger destroying his face.

I slipped behind our precious cover and looked at Shepard, he was shooting and casting tech powers like crazy. His face reflected everything you wouldn't like to see in some dark alley when you're all alone. It was covered in sweat and anger, his mouth with a grimace showing all his teeth, his nose and forehead wrinkled and raw with this mad, predatory look. I picked my Mattock over the cover and shot a few blind rounds.

They were quickly surrounding us and finally one of the marines shooting through the window from outside of the building got hit. The Batarians were shooting continuously and we couldn't fire back without getting hit, so we stayed behind our covers. Then the shooting stopped and I saw a grenade rolling down the room. It stopped directly in front of me and exploded with a massive explosion of light and noise. All I could see was white and veins on my eyes. I could literally feel inside of my eyeballs and it felt like my iris was coming unstuck. I could still hear echo of the explosion banging inside of my head, trying to get out of it. Then I think somebody kicked me in the face and I almost lost my consciousness. Almost. The second kick got me.


	4. After the Fire

A/N

It's been a real long time since I uploaded last chapter. I think my procrastination finally found its way to me. But now I'm back to the story. For real.

I hope this new chapter didn't lose much on the quality, of course if you find grammar errors or just want to leave a comment, please do so.

Have a good read, and c'ya!

* * *

_Three hours earlier…_

It had only been 20 or 30 minutes since Raph left. I had begun to wonder whether or not I'd see him again, or even if he made it out alive. I was still sitting behind the counter, munching on a packet of crisps, processing just what the hell has happened today. Things haven't gone exactly the way they should have. First thing in the morning this god damn Turian came in all drunk asking for more booze and when he met my refusal decided to puke all over the floor. But no, this obviously wasn't the worse thing this day could introduce me to. Now I had a dead body lying in the puddle of its own blood in the middle of my god damn store. Not mentioning where it exactly came from…

"Well, tough luck." – I said to myself reaching for a crisp. My Avalanche was lying next to me and I was feeling rather safe in here, since the shooting wasn't coming from anywhere close. – Mm, oniony. – they were actually pretty good!

Damn it, what the hell am I doing? That's not me in here, I shouldn't be hiding when people are dying outside. And I am eating munchies… I grabbed my shotgun and peeped from behind the counter. It was quiet and empty on the street, but you never know. I crawled to the dead batarian and checked his pockets. Spare heat sinks, family photo, a thong…

"Huh, I see you were the romantic type." – I looked at his dead face. He was getting cold, and his face froze in this scary look when I shot him. The muscles were still, I tried to close his mouth to give him more peaceful look, but it was for no use. I got back to my scavenger hunt and I felt something hard deeper, beneath the shredded armor and layers of clothes. I reached for it and pulled out something that turned out to be a device of some sort.

I carefully turned the device in my palm and examined what it exactly was. It had two buttons on its side, a speaker and a little hole, that's microphone. Most probably a radio. I noticed a little volume rocker smartly hidden behind a little panel. Definitely a radio. It came to life and a deep Batarian voice said:

"Tarek, you piece of shit if I remember correctly I told you to stay with the ground team. I know you just can't handle common sense and it seems like everytime we're in the field you just NEED to stay behind. Please put some oil in your fucking brain and fall back to the Alliance HQ. We're about to launch the final strike and take that bitch hole hostage. I'm sending you square I.D."

A few moments later a piece of Tarek's armor beeped and flashed. Slowly I checked it and saw arm piece with a little screen showing coordinates being transferred to the build-in device. I jumped behind the counter yet again to reach for my Avalanche, grabbed the radio, whole arm piece (since I couldn't remove the screen itself) and carefully went out of the store. You could still hear the shooting from all around, fortunately for me not anywhere near for now.

I gazed left and right and went across the street on the other side of the road. A few Alliance fighters flew by over my head heading straight up, towards the low orbit. The arm plate that I took from the departed batarian was hanging loose on me, turning upside down and flying up and down my arm. It was irritating but I didn't have any better solution at the moment - no bag, backpack or even a satchel. All I was carrying was my Avalanche (and the shotgun alone was pretty heavy), the batarian radio in my pocket (that I have safely switched to the lowest possible volume) and of course the arm piece.

After a few minutes long walk I was finally reaching the Alliance HQ. The arm plate was to no use though, I got rid of it fast since it rebooted itself for no reason leaving me with no more information on an operating system written fully in batarian.

Sounds of gunfire were relatively close, maybe around 120 yards away and I was hiding in a crashed building, behind debris. It looked like it collapsed on itself, floor after floor. It probably wouldn't have happened downtown since it was pumping more of the Alliance funds, ergo development was of a safer kind, build from the hard metal blocks, not bricks and concrete.

I was thinking what exactly should I do now, since I had information regarding a possible attack on the HQ. Still, I was one person, not really trained in firefight, hand to hand combat or whatever combat. Not a soldier. And when I was just about to quietly get out of the cover I heard a very quiet but still loud enough to hear steps. They were swift and a lot of them, coming from the left. I shouldered my shotgun, facing it towards the little hole I crawled in from. Then I waited.

Few seconds later the first of the group passed by my little hiding place. The man was wearing a black body suit with an addition of black, fingerless gloves. Something what looked like night vision goggles, and a gun that I have never seen before. Big, military boots on him but barely any armor at all! The three other men following the leader took no notice of the debris. They were watchful of the surroundings, checking every corner and windows of the building standing on the other side of the road. The last one though, he slowed down and patted on the back the one ahead of him. They stopped.

He stood still for a moment, then looked hard through the dark directly into my eyes and pointed his gun at me.

"I see you, come out slowly or I'll shoot" - he said quietly.

"Okay, easy. Coming out" - I responded faintly. Common sense said it's Special Ops or some kind of Alliance commando squad, probably heading for the HQ. I'll be safe with them, I hope so. They looked at me with this cold, calculated look as I made some clatter getting out of my spot. The leader of the group glanced at my shotgun and shot a crooked smile at me. "You're civilian, eh? Good thing you found yourself a good hiding place." - he looked around and whispered. Then he continued, not letting me reply. - "Listen, we have our thing to do, you have yours." - I opened my mouth to finally say something but again, he didn't let me. - "Of course I mean you staying in the cover until it's safe outside."

His radio buzzed twice, and he responded - "We're 2 minutes out. Coming east side, better send info so we don't get into friendly fire."

"Radio's down, we can't get any message through. You have to act quickly." - the voice was deep and expressive, like you would expect from a high ranked military man.

"Understood, Mirror One out." - he replied and turned to his men - "We're a few behind Mirror's Two and Three, let's move it, double-time."

"Hey, what about me, I can help, you're heading to the HQ? I have intel Batarians will try to take it over." - I tried to get his attention, didn't want to stay behind all alone, I really wanted to help.

"You're definitely going to be safer here than with us. Don't worry, either way out it will probably be over sooner or later."

He waved his hand in some kind of sign and they moved on. Are you serious? I'm supposed to stay in a safe cover and do completely nothing when innocent people are dying? It's not my style! I leaned my head from behind a corner trying to locate the commando squad. They were gone but I had a pretty good idea of where they were heading. The Headquarters. I grabbed my old shotty and quietly crossed the street. I heard couple of what seemed to be sniper shots and then the real firefight began. Though I was around 500 yards from the HQ I could hear shots being fired like it was me shooting. Some heavy caliber and a lot of it.

Couple of minutes later when I finally got to the HQ I saw a group of heavy armed and armored batarians blowing up the main entry. Then the real shooting started. Good God, it was all happening right behind the concrete wall that I was standing next to. I have to do something!

I ran to the nearest window, it was locked since somebody inside rolled down the metal sheets. Not really thinking what I was doing I got my Avalanche, aimed it for the metal curtains and shot two heavy rounds point-blank. They made a hole big enough for me to fit in, but the sides were really sharp. I quickly took cover and waited if something or someone is going to check it. I guess everybody inside was too busy with shooting to note a blond chick coming through the hole in the window.

Still unsure whether I'll take a bullet or not I slipped through the hole taking a nasty cut on the leg on the way in. The room was fortunately empty and all of the shooting was coming out from the next one. I could actually see the backs of a few batarians through the broken in half door. Not really caring if I was quiet or not I walked to them with my shotgun in hands, pointing at their backs. And just when I was about to shoot a flashbang went off leaving me deaf-muted in a world of white.

Still blinded I crawled my way to the nearest wall not really sure if I was inside the second or first room. After a few moments I finally started to see shapes and I figured I actually was in the first room. I grabbed my shotgun and got on my feet in an awkward dance of stumble and pain.

I just casually walked in to the room beyond, where the shooting was since I was still a bit dazed. In that moment I saw one of the batarians walking up to Raph, kicking him in the face. I pointed my shotgun at the nearest slug and shoot. Good, old Avalanche. One short round left him with a hole in his stomach big enough to fit a bowling ball inside. At this point I think they noticed me because another one jumped on me with a pretty sharp looking knife. I dodged the blade but I received a heavy armored roundhouse from another one. I nearly lost my consciousness and hit the ground real hard. I was still holding my shotgun though, pointed exactly at the batarian giving Raph a second kick in the face. I squeezed the trigger leaving the attacker armless. He screamed in agony holding the bleeding stump, shock in his eyes.

Then the commando squad walked in. I felt somebody reaching for my neck, I lost my breath as I looked into his eyes. The batarian trying to choke me was looking young, but he had this mad look in his eyes, like he really liked his job, you know?

He must have spotted something because he glanced to the right and just then he received a bullet in his eye. It seemed like a whole bucket of blood went down on my face. I coughed in disgust and pain, I got on my knees trying to get some air and saw them. The commando squad ran in with their guns ready and already finding next targets.

The civilians in the room also started shooting and it was all over in a few seconds.

"Everybody's okay?" - somebody hollered.

People started crying, mumbling, shouting and everybody all at once. A military man from the Alliance walked over to me, wiped the blood off of my face and asked if I'm all right. I replied with a positive and got on my feet. Unsure of my strength I got my way to Raph. He had already been taken care of by an Alliance soldier. His face was all red and scared, dripping blood.

"Is he going to be okay?" - asked and momentarily realized the sheer stupidity of the question.

"I hope so. It was I who let him fight. Now it's him who got hit and pretty bad. I knew it was a bad idea." - he looked at me. He had green eyes, short, dark brown hair and a pretty impressive facial hair, slowly turning into a beard.

His omni-tool lighted up. "Shepard, I hear Mirror One got just in time. What's your status?"

"Sir, in time would be around two hours earlier. We lost a lot of people, civilians also." - Shepard responded as he covered Raph in medi-gel.

"I know and I can assure you Lieutenant, that the Alliance won't go without any response to this act of violence. We have already taken care of the starships, but you can encounter the last of the ground teams. Though it's a far away from being over. I recon this incident won't go quietly, swept under the rug, but now it's just me thinking out loud." - the man on the other side of the radio said and continued. "Right now I'm sending you more reinforcements and med crew. They should arrive in a few minutes. Hackett out." - he finished with a strong voice.

A few minutes later med team arrived in an Alliance shuttle hurrying to the HQ. They shouted their way into the building, jumping over debris and crashed tables and chairs. The two of them ordered marines to get the most heavily wounded to the shuttle, while the rest of the med squad started applying anesthetics and medi-gel to the more lucky ones.

I regained consciousness, but I kept my eyes closed. I felt like shit and at this point I didn't care where I was, who I was or what time or reality it was. Though my face was partially numb I could feel the bones, muscles and skin. It was a weird sensation, but the pain was worse, very unpleasant to say the least. Last thing I remembered was this heavy armored boot driving towards my face but now I was lying on something soft. I moved my fingers over the fabric and I heard movement beside the bed.

"He's moving, get doctor Cooper!" - a heard a woman's voice.

I slowly opened my eyes and glanced over the room. Walls were all white and glassy with rows of beds standing against them, all occupied. It seemed to be very bright but I think it was just me, who woke up from a pharmaceutical coma. The woman I heard seconds ago was now looking at me, a syringe in her hand. She stuck it into a tube coming from my arm and injected the liquid.

"Where… where am I?" - I was still very weak and even opening my mouth was tiresome.

"You're aboard the Alliance Frigate SSV Agincourt. There are too many wounded to help them all just in Elysium. Lieutenant Shepard ordered himself to get you here." - she said smiling. - "You will feel better soon."

Minute later Shepard walked in following doctor Cooper. The doctor checked my readings right away, while The Protagonist sat on a chair standing beside my bed.

"How are you feeling Raph? You really helped us down there." - he said thankfully.

"I'm… good. Thanks." - I thought my jaw is going to fall off.

"Heh, listen I need to say something. I'm thankful beyond anything for what you have shown and proven back on Elysium. I now it wasn't your duty to fight amongst us, especially with an enemy so brutal in a situation so unexpected." - he said looking into my eyes. He paused for a second, took a breath and continued. - "You're young but your actions showed all of us what kind of man you are. I'll have a real talk with you when you recover. For now, you'll stay on Aginourt. By the way, don't look in a mirror. - he laughed getting some of the seriousness off. - "But seriously…" - he said with poker face. He stood up and crossed the room heading for the exit. Then he turned to me and said - "Nah, I'm just kidding, you're good." - then he laughed out loud and was about to leave when I suddenly remembered something and said:

"Hey listen, I had a backpack that's really important to me…."

"Yes, I'll make sure it gets back to you if we find it. What's inside though?" - he asked me a curious question.

"Ah… you know. Stuff. That's important to me" - I started laughing and it was a mistake. The sharp pain that hit me was like "In your face, asshole". I cried out a single tear.

"Woah, easy there. I'll keep you informed, don't worry but for now…" - he paused for breath and I already knew what's going to happen next. - "I should go." - he said and I burst out laughing. FUCK!

_Two hours later…_

"Ma'am please hand me a mirror." - I whispered terrified still having in mind Shepard's joke. All in all it was a metal boot that hit me twice. And hit me hard. It for sure left scars, but I'm just hoping my face isn't all deformed.

She handed me a little mirror and I slowly turned it so it reflected me. I sighed in relief. While my face still looked like a normal face (everything was in place, counting teeth) I had a huge scar starting behind my lip going straight to the left ear. I moved my tounge and felt a cut. As ridiculous as it sounds the now dead motherfucker gave me a new hole in my face, also it was all swollen.

"Don't worry, it will heal in couple of weeks. But you will have a scar for the rest of your life. You're actually lucky to still have consciousness of your own, after hits like that you could've ended as a vegetable." - she said with a serious face.

"Yeah I could've ended as the Joker." - I paused and looked at her waiting for the approval of my joke. Ah yes, I forgot. I'm in the Mass Effect universe. In that moment the last person I would expect to entered the room. The one that somewhat introduced me to this world - Amanda. She walked in bringing a sense of calmness and peace with her. I don't know what was that, but the sheer look of her face was restful.

Hm… I wonder how long I was asleep, she definitely looked like she enjoyed a long, deep sleep; and a shower for that matter. The woman approached my bed looking at me. She sat down and smiled.

"Raph, how are you feeling?" - her voice was quiet and personal.

"Could've been better… and much worse. But what are you doing on Agincourt?" - I really didn't care how she got here, I was just surprisingly happy she did.

"Well I left the store couple of minutes after you. I figured I don't want to stay behind the counter doing nothing when people were dying. Long story short I made it to the HQ safely and met Lieutenant Shepard." - she paused for breath and continued - "Actually I made it just in time to see you taking those hits. He ordered himself to get you directly to Agincourt, since it has top notch medical equipment."

"I see. But you should've stayed inside. You could've been captured or killed." - I replied looking in her eyes.

"Maybe you're right." - she hesitated for a moment. - "But I was worried about you." - she finished looking away from me. I smiled.

"And I was worried about you. Actually, what day do we have?"

"You've been here for 3 days now. People down on the planet started evaluating the losses, it didn't look all that bad down there, but when I got aboard the shuttle and we flew higher I saw the full image of what have happened. It's really bad." - she looked down.

I sighed, and reached for her hand. She looked at me hesitantly but grabbed it. Her skin was soft and it seemed like our palms are matched for each other. I took a deep breath through my nostrils, she smelled great. I looked at her and smiled.

"I'll get back and help as soon as I can. I'm just happy you're okay." - now, I have no idea why I said that, because I barely knew her at the time but there was something in her that made me do that. Maybe it was her face, blond hair, soft skin or simply the events that happened just a few days ago, not really together but we knew what we've been through.

"Yes, you too." - she smiled and very carefully kissed me on the cheek. - "You should get some rest, I'll better leave now."

She stood up, and left the room, looking back on the way out before the door hissed shut. I mentally self high-fived and closed my eyes. I just then started feeling how tired I was. I couldn't really fall asleep and after a few minutes of various thoughts running through my mind I heard the door beeping on the other side. They opened and someone walked in. I sighed.

"I couldn't fall asleep anyway" - I said a little annoyed.

"That's great, because we have a long talk before us." - the man said.

C.H. - god damn Casey Hudson.


End file.
